Swissgrid to go rapidly ahead with the Gommer power line project following Federal Supreme Court ruling

Frick, Switzerland, 25-10-2013 — /EuropaWire/ — The Federal Supreme Court’s decision of 11 September 2013 confirmed the urgency of realising the Gommer line and defined the framework for implementing the project. Together with Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) and the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) as the authority leading the process, Swissgrid will press rapidly ahead with the power line project in accordance with the Federal Supreme Court ruling.

In June 2011 the SFOE issued planning approval for the renovation and new construction of the extra-high-voltage line Bitsch/Massaboden – Filet – Mörel – Ulrichen (the Gommer line). The Federal Administrative Court subsequently received several objections from municipalities and private individuals. The complainants’ demands included studies with regard to underground cabling.

In January 2013 the Federal Administrative Court confirmed that the sectoral planning process had been properly carried out and acknowledged that the SFOE was bound by the Federal Council’s assessment decision. The project was nevertheless referred back to the SFOE with the instructions to review the complete or partial cabling within and outside the planning corridor defined for the Gommer line. By appealing to the Federal Supreme Court, Swissgrid and the SBB wanted to establish legal certainty for the current and future approval procedure.

The Federal Supreme Court’s decision of 11 September 2013 produced clarity for the further course of action in realising the Gommer line. Together with the SBB and the SFOE as the authority leading the process, Swissgrid will rapidly press ahead with the power line project in accordance with the Federal Supreme Court ruling. According to our information, the SFOE is to rule on the procedure with regard to the requested cable study for the Binntal valley as early as the end of October/start of November 2013. On the basis of the preparatory work that has already begun, Swissgrid and the SBB will probably be able to award the contract for the study of the Binnegga-Binnachra-Hockmatta-Hofstatt region before the end of 2013. The resonance problem of the affected SBB line will also be analysed in more detail.

A general specification for cable studies was developed by Swissgrid in recent months in coordination with the SFOE. It forms the framework for commissioning the study, which will be supported by a neutral expert of international renown. This was indeed one of the main reasons why it has not yet been possible to commission a cable study scheduled for February 2013. Only by creating a jointly accepted, binding basis is it possible to ensure that future studies always meet the same quality standards and are consequently also comparable with one another.

The decision by the Federal Supreme Court concerning the Gommer line affirms Swissgrid in its efforts to involve all relevant stakeholders in grid construction projects as early as possible. It confirms the need to examine all fundamental issues, such as those concerning the planning corridor and technology, in full as early as possible and to make decisions on a binding basis in order that important projects can be realised in good time.

The proposal for streamlining the approval procedures for the construction of transmission lines, which Swissgrid submitted to the Swiss federal government in the spring of 2013, also follows this approach. This proposal provides for an additional single-stage procedural step with the option to raise objections and appeal after the sectoral planning process. Involving the relevant parties at an early stage in the preliminary design phase will make it easier to find a solution jointly and will create the basis for finding the best possible way forward to construct the line.

The Mörel – Ulrichen expansion project is necessary to ensure the transport of energy from the canton of Valais. It is part of the 2015 strategic transmission grid that was set out by the Swiss Federal Council in 2009.

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